People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Australia is dedicated to establishing and protecting the rights of all animals. PETA Australia operates under the simple principle that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment or abuse in any way. PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: in factory farms, the clothing trade, laboratories, and the entertainment industry. We also work on a variety of other issues, including the cruel killing of birds and other “pests”.
The success of our affiliates’ campaigns against mulesing in conjunction with Australians’ demand for information on animal protection issues prompted the establishment of PETA Australia. PETA Australia works through public education, cruelty investigations, research, legislation, celebrity involvement and protest campaigns.

Time to get real on dog fighting

Dear Editor,

People in Brisbane and throughout Queensland are rightly disgusted at the light sentence handed out to a man who was involved in illegal dog fights. Some of the twenty dogs, who were seized from the Mount Cotton property last year, were wounded or covered in scars from dog fighting, none had bedding or clean water. The man pleaded guilty to a string of offences including failing to provide water to the animals, supplying dogs for fights and organising a fight. He also bred pups for fighting, and kept them in what the Brisbane magistrate described as appalling conditions. Some of the dogs were so aggressive they were put down by the RSPCA.

The sentence handed down this week certainly does not reflect the seriousness of this crime. The man was ordered to pay the RSPCA’s costs and an $800 fine, plus six months jail, but he will be released on parole in less than a month.

Penalties for cruelty under the Animal Care and Protection Act can be up to seven years jail or $235,600 fine. It's time that we started to impose these maximum sentences and treat cases of cruelty to animals as the serious crimes that they are. If you suspect someone of abusing animals, report it to authorities right away. It could mean the difference between life and death.